Tweed ripe for jobs in tourism

Thirty students have begun studies at the Southern Cross University Tweed campus for Australia's first tertiary business degree in convention and event tourism management.

SCU's Head of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management Dr Perry Hobson told the students at their first class meeting last week that the growth of the Tweed tourist accommodation sector over the next few years would create local job opportunities for tourism graduates.

Dr Hobson said the Tweed students also had good job prospects overseas, with Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong vying to become destination cities for convention hosting.

Tweed and Coolangatta Tourism general manager Terry Watson told a tourism forum the day before the SCU degree course commenced that the Twin Towns Resort expansion and Tweed Ultima at Tweed Heads, and the Salt and Casuarina projects on the Tweed Coast, would open up the Tweed to convention tourism.

The SCU convention and event management degree includes intern- ships, in which students will work in the tourism industry.

TACTIC chairwoman Lee Eyre, of the Tweed-based Catch-a-Crab river tours, will join the SCU teaching team for the new degree.

Dr Hobson said the university had "high expectations" for the degree students.

"We have the best reputation (in the tourism industry) of any university in Australia," he said.

He said this was mostly due to employment statistics for SCU tour- ism students.